To provide a wide selection of products that are readily available for delivery, many merchants (whether engaging in electronic or conventional “brick and mortar” commerce) may store those products in warehouses, fulfillment centers, or other inventory facilities. Keeping items in inventory may provide numerous benefits, such as, for example, accommodating variations in customer demand and/or a manufacturer or distributor's ability to supply those items. Typically, holding some quantities of a particular product “in stock” may enable a merchant to make such product available to customers in a more consistent fashion.
However, to maintain products in stock, a merchant may incur certain costs. Some of these costs may include, for example, real estate costs (e.g., lease costs, debt service, etc.), personnel costs, and facilities costs (e.g., utilities, maintenance, etc.). There may also be capital or economic costs related to the money that a merchant paid its vendor to obtain a stored product, which is then committed to inventory until payment for that product is received from a customer. Other types of costs may further include loss or damage due to accidents, or the like.
Balancing the benefits of keeping inventory with its associated costs often presents complex planning problems. And the harmonization of these various costs and benefits may be obtained with in-stock optimization mechanisms.
While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit the invention to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.